Field of the Invention
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a panel assembly structure for preventing a column dive, and, particularly, to a panel assembly structure capable of preventing a column dive by dispersing impact energy to prevent a dash tunnel and a center floor tunnel from being deformed when a vehicle collides head-on.
Description of Related Art
In recent years, a Transmission Gear Shift (TGS) mounting portion M tends to move upward when developing a vehicle platform. The TGS mounting portion M is a portion through which cables for connecting a transmission TM and a TGS lever pass, and serves to prevent shift noise increased as the TGS mounting portion M is relatively located at the bottom. For this reason, the angle of a dash tunnel 21 is increased compared to conventional ways, with the consequence that a column dive easily occurs when a vehicle collides head-on.
Hereinafter, a column dive will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIGS. 1 to 4 are views illustrating conventional problems. The column dive described in FIG. 1 is a phenomenon in which a steering wheel is pushed downward from an original position when a vehicle collides head-on.
In more detail, i) a transmission TM comes into contact with a gear box G by impact energy which is generated and transferred to an engine room when the vehicle collides head-on (steps 1) and 2)). Thereinafter, ii) a first steering shaft ST1 lifts a universal joint U while rotating counterclockwise, and thus a second steering shaft ST2 is pushed downward (steps 3) and 5)). At the same time, iii) the front portion of a center floor tunnel 11 is deformed, and thus a cowl crossbar support CS, which is bolted to the center floor tunnel 11 at one point, is pulled downward (steps 4) and 6)). Therefore, iv) the column dive in which the steering wheel is pushed downward occurs. Since it is difficult to detect an airbag when such a column dive occurs, this may have a bad consequence on driver's safety.
The cause of the column dive will be described in more detail. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the related art prevents the deformation of a dash tunnel 21 by mounting a dash upper member 40 on the upper surface of a dash panel 20 in the transverse direction of the vehicle, and mounting a dash tunnel reinforcement 22 on the upper surface of the dash tunnel 21. However, the lower end of the dash tunnel reinforcement 22 comes into direct contact with the center floor tunnel 11.
In addition, dash lower members D are conventionally mounted in a separated state, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Accordingly, when the vehicle collides head-on, the impact transferred along front side members FS is transferred rearward through front side rear lower members FR and the dash lower members D, and is simultaneously dispersed to the left and right of the vehicle through rear lower member fronts F, rear lower member rears R, and sub-frame mounting brackets SB. However, since the dash lower members D are separated from each other, a reinforcement structure that surrounds both upper and lower surfaces of the dash panel 20 and the center floor panel 10 is cut only at a separated portion.
Accordingly, in the conventional panel assembly structure, deformation easily occurs in the contact portion between the lower end of the dash tunnel reinforcement 22 and the center floor tunnel 11 when the vehicle collides head-on. For this reason, the column dive easily occurs since the cowl crossbar support CS is pulled downward.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.